Inspiration is the food of all the work you create as an artist. But it can sometimes be hard to make your creative muscles work, especially when you’re creating for professional purposes often and might not have time to rest your brain and focus on what you’d like to do creatively.

Everyone has their own coping mechanisms, but to help you find yours, we’ve compiled a few strategies in this post. Let us know in the comments if they help you, or what you normally do to trigger your inspiration!

1. Change your perspective

There’s enough material to fuel ideas all around us, but when you’re focusing too hard on finding it, it can actually be harder to reach. Sometimes, it’s simply more productive to take a step back and look at things from a different angle.

If you generally focus on architecture, why not try to look at a different detail of the buildings you photograph? If you’re a portrait photographer, look for new muses. Or if you do nature photography, focus on the small details instead of the bigger picture. This can help you get in a creative mood again, and who knows, it might lead to a whole new project!

2. Do your research

Technology evolves constantly. Cameras as we know them today are different from the ones we used to own 10, 20, and 30 years ago. And with these technological evolutions comes artistic growth, because they enable us to take clearer, better, more challenging pictures.

We’ve all been excited to try out a new gadget, like children on Christmas morning. Check out what’s happening in the world of tech and photography, find out new trends and techniques, and give it a go.

3. Go for a walk

This one is a universal technique. Whether you’re a painter, a writer, or a photographer, the power nature has affects anyone who has some link to a form of art. Nature is one of the most inspiring things always around us — ever changing, organic, reflective of the world we live in.

Besides giving your body the time to destress and ground itself, it will allow you to clear your head and help make room for new thoughts and ideas. Sometimes, it’s when you don’t try to come up with projects that they come to you. You just have to make sure you’re ready to welcome them when they pop into your head!

4. See what others are doing

In our digital day and age, we’re extremely lucky to have access to an endless, international gallery of inspiration. Everyone shares their work online, you get to engage with it, and feel inspired by it.

While there can be a fine line between creation and re-creation, following trends can turn out to be extremely helpful. The same way that shifting your own perspective can ignite your creativity, checking out how other creators are perceiving things might help you consider things in a way you never have before — and make you want to start creating again!

5. Start small

Don’t set off on a enormous mission from the get-go. Sometimes, it’s when you have the clearest idea that you hit a wall. But just like a writer with a great idea for a trilogy might want to start off with short chapters, you, as a photographer, could benefit from starting by looking at what the best settings are for what you’re trying to achieve, or trying your hand at capturing familiar views before you go off on a world trip to photograph specific landscapes.

This will both help you practice, but also might make you try out things in your work you’d never really thought to explore before.

6. Take notes

Creativity is a fantastic thing. But it’s uncontrollable.

You might be on a bus ride home, or in the middle of your weekly grocery shopping, when inspiration strikes. Obviously, not all ideas leads to genius projects, but all ideas are worth exploring. So don’t risk forgetting the thought you had on your way to the post office this morning: write it down, and think about it more when you’ve got time and creative space.

7. Get a change of scenery

Routine can seriously harm your creative muscle. It can be like putting blinkers on a horse: you focus on what you know, do, and see every day.

So get out of your comfort zone — literally. This doesn’t have to be an expensive trip to the other side of the world (though, in some cases, and if you can afford it, it might help!). It could be anything from going away for a weekend to taking a different route to get to work. But sometimes, it’s by changing your scenery that you start noticing things around you again, and get your inspiration going.

We hope these tips help you get back to work and start creating again. And when you do, be sure to sign up on findr so you can be seen by customers and turn your work into money!

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